The strike at Encore Boston Harbor in Everett, Massachusetts passed its fourth week on 29 September 2026 with no settlement reported. How long Wynn Resorts can keep the property trading is a question of Massachusetts gaming law as much as of bargaining, because under 205 CMR 134.02 nobody works the cage, the count room or the slot floor without a licence the regulator has already granted, and the one quick route in expires on 3 November 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Around 1,350 workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 have been on strike at Encore Boston Harbor since 7am on 4 September 2026, after their contract expired on 31 August and members voted over 95 per cent in favour of a walkout on 20 August.
- Massachusetts regulation 205 CMR 134.02 requires a gaming employee licence before anyone performs any of 22 listed roles, from cashiers and count room personnel to dealers, floor persons, slot maintenance, security and surveillance, so unlicensed stand-ins cannot work the gaming floor. The one fast route, borrowing staff from an affiliated casino for 60 days with Bureau approval, expires on 3 November 2026.
- Other markets answer the same question differently. Nevada temporarily registers a substitute the moment a complete application is filed under NRS 463.335 and lets that person start work immediately, while New South Wales allows a provisional special employee licence while the application is assessed.
Where does the Encore Boston Harbor strike stand?
It is in its fourth week, with the property open, parts of it shut and no public sign of a deal. Wynn Resorts has kept Encore trading since 4 September, though valet parking and the free water shuttle are both closed because the people who ran them are outside on the picket line.
The politics have moved faster than the bargaining. Boston, Somerville and Everett city councils have each passed resolutions backing the workers, Boston’s committing its councillors not to dine, meet or stay at the resort. The unions are also asking customers to stay away altogether, which is a harder thing for a property to price than a picket line is.
The same two unions went to the brink at this property in 2023 and settled without walking out, after a strike authorisation vote was followed by a tentative agreement in an emergency bargaining session. That history is worth holding onto, because it says a deal at Encore tends to arrive late rather than never, and it also says how far outside the normal pattern a fourth week on a picket line sits.
What are the two sides arguing about?
The dispute is about money over three years, and the unions are asking for roughly twice what the company has put on the table. They want $10 an hour more over three years for non-tipped workers, who earn between $15 and $32 an hour now, and $5 an hour more for tipped staff, while Wynn has offered less than half of each. Local 25’s 211 members are the limousine drivers, valets, cage cashiers, warehouse and call centre staff, and Local 26 covers housekeeping, kitchens, bars, restaurants and the slot attendants.
What do casino staffing rules during a strike actually allow?
They allow much less than a contingency plan usually assumes, because the regulator decides who is allowed to stand behind the cage. 205 CMR 134.02(1) says that no individual may perform services for a gaming licensee as a gaming employee unless that individual has been licensed, and it puts 22 positions inside that definition: cashiers, count room personnel, dealers, floor persons, slot maintenance, security and surveillance among them. Housekeeping and food service register as gaming service employees instead, so the hotel side of the building has more room to move than the gaming floor does.
The fast route has a date on it. The same regulation lets a licensee bring in employees of an affiliated gaming establishment for up to 60 days with the approval of the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau, provided the Bureau is told in advance who is coming and why, the visitors wear a distinguishable badge, and somebody licensed or registered goes with them into any restricted area. The Commission can extend that to six months in total, though not more than six months in any 18-month period. Counted from 4 September, the first 60 days runs out on 3 November 2026.
Why does this matter to operators outside Massachusetts?
It matters because the regulator sets the substitution rule, and three comparable markets set it three different ways.
| Market | Can a stand-in work before approval? | The route in | Instrument |
| Massachusetts | No | Gaming employee licence first. A licensee may borrow staff from an affiliated casino for 60 days with Bureau approval, badged and accompanied in restricted areas, extendable to six months but not more than six months in any 18. | 205 CMR 134.02 |
| Nevada | Yes | Temporary registration takes effect when a complete application is submitted and work can start at once. The Board has 120 days to object, after which the licensee must terminate or reassign the person. | NRS 463.335 |
| New South Wales | Only on a provisional licence | A special employee licence from the NSW Independent Casino Commission, with a provisional licence available while the application is determined. | Casino Control Act 1992 (NSW), s.44 |
An operator holding licences in more than one of those markets has three different answers to the same Monday morning question, and the Nevada answer is the one most group continuity plans are quietly written around.
What is at stake commercially?
Encore reported gross gaming revenue of $62,866,347 in August 2026, its last full month before the walkout, and paid $15,716,587 of tax on it at the 25 per cent Category 1 rate. Trading was softening before any of this started: Wynn’s second quarter put Encore’s operating revenues at $209.3m, down 3.0 per cent, adjusted property EBITDAR at $56.1m, down 12.2 per cent, and table games win down 12.6 per cent on a table drop that rose 3.0 per cent.
What would change this verdict?
Three dates will settle it, in the order they arrive.
- The Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s September revenue report, published in the middle of October, is the first hard measurement of what the strike has cost. August’s $62.87m is the benchmark to read it against.
- On 3 November 2026 the initial 60-day affiliate window closes. A request to extend it is a visible act, and it would say the company is planning for a long dispute rather than a short one.
- A tentative agreement ends it, and at that point the term of the deal matters more than the headline hourly rate, because three years signed in a soft trading year prices very differently from five.
What should an operator do before its own contract expires?
Build one substitution map per licence, before a contract expiry rather than after a walkout. For every position on the gaming floor, in the cage and in the count room, record:
- whether the regulator requires an individual licence, a registration or nothing at all, with the instrument named
- whether a person may begin work while an application is pending, and under which provision
- how long any temporary, provisional or affiliate route lasts, what the extension limit is, and the date it would expire counted from day one of a stoppage
- how many people already holding the right licence sit elsewhere in the group, where they are, and how quickly they could travel
- the expiry date of every collective agreement in the group, set against all of the above
A map like that turns a labour dispute from a surprise into a scheduling problem, and it is worth far more the week before a contract expires than the week after.
Sources
1. UNITE HERE Local 26, Encore Boston Harbor Strike: Don’t Cross the Picket Line (strike start 7am, 4 September 2026; contract expired 31 August 2026; approximately 1,350 workers; strike authorisation vote 20 August 2026, over 95 per cent of more than 1,000 voting). https://www.local26.org/encore/ (accessed 29 September 2026).
2. GBH News, Encore Boston Harbor casino workers go on strike as contract negotiations stall, 4 September 2026. https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2026-09-04/encore-boston-harbor-casino-workers-go-on-strike-as-contract-negotiations-stall
3. The Boston Globe, Encore Boston Harbor strike: Elected officials back workers, 16 September 2026 (wage demands of $10 and $5 an hour over three years; Wynn offer of less than half; Boston, Somerville and Everett council resolutions; valet parking and water shuttle closed; Wynn statement). https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/16/business/encore-boston-harbor-strike/
4. Yogonet, Encore Boston Harbor strike enters third week with 1,300+ workers demanding higher wages, 24 September 2026 (Teamsters Local 25 membership of 211 and the roles covered; current pay range of $15 to $32 an hour for non-tipped staff).
5. 205 CMR 134.02, Gaming Employee Licensees, Massachusetts Gaming Commission (licence required before performing services; the 22 enumerated positions; temporary assistance from an affiliated gaming establishment for up to 60 days with Bureau approval, badging and accompaniment conditions, and extension to no more than six months in any 18-month period).
6. 205 CMR 134.03, Gaming Service Employees, Massachusetts Gaming Commission (registration rather than licensing for employees outside the key gaming employee and gaming employee classes).
7. Massachusetts Gaming Commission, Revenue Report, August 2026 (Encore Boston Harbor table games $38,470,744.63, slots $24,395,602.70, total $62,866,347.33, taxes $15,716,586.83 at 25 per cent). https://massgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/MGC-Revenue-Report-August-2026.pdf
8. Wynn Resorts, Limited, Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results, 4 August 2026, Exhibit 99.1 (Encore Boston Harbor operating revenues $209.280m, down 3.0 per cent; Adjusted Property EBITDAR $56.084m, down 12.2 per cent; casino revenue $152.102m, down 5.9 per cent; table drop $348.381m, up 3.0 per cent; table games win $62.913m, down 12.6 per cent). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1174922/000117492226000051/ex991wrlq22026pressrelease.htm
9. Nevada Revised Statutes, NRS 463.335 (temporary registration on submission of a complete application, work may commence immediately, Board has 120 days, termination or reassignment on objection).
10. Casino Control Act 1992 (NSW), section 44 (special employees to be licensed); NSW Independent Casino Commission, Casino special employees (roles covered, and provisional licence available while an application is determined). https://www.nicc.nsw.gov.au/resources/casino-special-employees
11. Massachusetts Gaming Commission, Revenue (Category 1 resort-casinos taxed at 25 per cent of gross gaming revenue). https://massgaming.com/regulations/revenue/
12. CBS News Boston, Encore Boston Harbor workers avoid strike, reach deal with Wynn, 29 June 2023 (the 2023 contract round, settled by tentative agreement after a strike authorisation vote and without a walkout). https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/encore-boston-harbor-casino-workers-agreement-deal-strike-avoided/